Sunnyvale city manager still mulling city council's offer to stay on board

It continues to be unclear whether Sunnyvale city manager Gary Luebbers will be staying on while the city searches for his replacement.

In an interview with Mayor Tony Spitaleri on Aug. 30, Spitaleri said Luebbers accepted an enticing offer put on the table by the city council to get him to stay on after his projected retirement date of Oct. 5. According to the city, however, the city manager has not signed an agreement at this point in time.

A week later, the mayor clarified that he intended to convey that Luebbers had only agreed to consider an offer to stay on board longer.

"We were all glad that Gary was open to considering an offer to stay on board while we recruit his replacement," Spitaleri said in an email. "I'm hopeful that he will sign the agreement because I know how committed he is to Sunnyvale and the work we have under way, but I think we can all appreciate how difficult it must be to decide whether to put his personal plans on hold."

As it stands, the offer by city council reimburses Luebbers about $3,000 a month for temporary housing expenses, as well as all "reasonable" expenses related to work travel between Sunnyvale and Utah during his employment after Oct. 5. Luebbers came to Sunnyvale from Utah nearly five years ago.

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The offer includes a 2 percent salary increase in acknowledgement of the recent 2 percent increase in employees' CalPERS contributions. The move is consistent with increasing all other salary tables in the city to offset additional contributions employees are making, according to Teri Silva, director of human resources.

Luebbers will have the option at the time of his retirement to accept retirement health insurance benefits or reimbursement for other health insurance premiums, such as Medicare, in an amount that would not exceed the city benefit.

And finally, he'll receive a one-time, non-PERSable payment in the amount of $35,000 in recognition of his service to the city and for not accepting merit increases even though he qualified for the highest allowable salary after six months of service. Luebbers did, however, get a pay increase earlier this year for the first time since he was hired. In February, his salary was raised to $258,868 a year.

Besides making up some lost ground, Spitaleri said the offer was "absolutely" cheaper than hiring an interim city manager. When the city hired an interim city attorney in April 2012, the interim was paid $25,000 a month.

"Paying for an interim city attorney was extremely expensive; this is far less expensive," Spitaleri said. "We looked at how we could do this economically without disrupting budget issues coming up as well as significant projects in the work. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel here. Obviously, it is time sensitive, but the biggest issue is the budget and making sure we get it going in the right direction."

Employee representatives shared some concerns about the offers.

"It's true that last Tuesday night the city council voted to give a large incentive package to the city manager, to thank him for his work with the city and to entice him to continue working for Sunnyvale after his move to Utah," Sunnyvale Employees Association president JoAnn Rees said in an email. "It's also true that the miscellaneous employees have lost 2 percent of their salaries this year alone, with more to come. The miscellaneous employees are doing more and better work with fewer people, and the city council has rewarded the city manager generously for accomplishing this goal.

"Yet, the miscellaneous employees, without whose cooperation and hard work the cost savings could not have been made, have not received any kind of raise or bonus since our very well-compensated city manager was hired five years ago. We are hoping for a mutually beneficial outcome to our current [contract] negotiations."

According to the city, the SEA did not receive a salary increase in fiscal year 2009-10; however, the group did receive a 2 percent increase in 2010-11 and again in 2011-12. The group did not receive any increase in 2012-13 or 2013-14, but is getting a 3 percent increase in 2014-15 to help offset the increase in employees' CalPERS contribution.

The city council approved the retaining measures with a final vote of 6-1, with Councilman Pat Meyering dissenting.

The recruitment process for a new city manager is already under way. The city council will consider recruiter options at its Sept. 10 meeting.

*Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify an earlier story stating the city manager had accepted the city council's offer.